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 SOUTHCOTE

160

SOUTH DAKOTA

stations and 8 chapels; 5 academies for young ladies with 395 pupils; 9 parishes with parochial schools providing for S59 pupils; one hospital, the Infirmary and Sanitarium of St. Francis Xavier, under the Sisters of Mercy, at Charleston. The diocese sup- ports and cares for 72 orphans and the estimated CathoUc population of the state is 9650.

DENOMINATIONAL STATISTICS (1908)

Denominations

Baptist

M. E. Church, South

Presbyterian

Lutheran

Episcopal

Unitarian

Congregational

A. R. Presbyterian. . . Catholic

, No.

No.

CHnRCHES

Ministers

1,003

410

798

357

275

121

85

34

94

47

1

1

1

1

45

36

30

19

118,217

85,441

23,442

13,993

7,620

117

71

4,227

9,650

Legislation Affecting Religion. — The State allows a rectory and two acres of land with building to be exempt from taxation. Nor are religious houses taxed. Teaching orders have special privileges exempt- ing their schools, as the parochial schools, from taxation.

Full liberty of conscience is granted in South Carohna, but it h;is been held that this does not legalize wilful or profane swearing or scoffing or

Crevent legislation prohibiting the conduct of secular usiness, not of an imperative nature, on Sunday. South Carohna recognizes as legal holidays 1 Jan- uary, 19 January, Lee's Birthday, 11 May, Con- federate Memorial Day, 3 June, Jefferson Da\ds' Birthday, 4 July, Labour Day, Election Day, Christ- mas, and Thursday of Fair Week, but no Church holy days, as such, are recognized as hohdays. The law allows the same privileges to communications made to a priest under the seal of a confession as it does to confidential communications made by a client to his counsel or by a patient to his physician. The statutes contain no provisions making any exception between the rights and privileges of civil or ecclesias- tical corporations. The property of the Church in the diocese is held by the bishop and his successors in office. The sessions of the Legislature are opened with prayer; those of the Courts are not.

Marriage and Divorce. — The marriage lav;s of South Carolina prohibit all marriages within the Le\'itical degree, of white ■with negro, or white with Indian. It is one of the few states in the Union that docs not require the taking out of marriage licenses. A startling feature of the South Carolina law is the fact that no divorces are granted. .411 laws per- mitting divorce were repealed in 1878 and have never been re-enacted. From 1867 to the repeal of the Divorce Law South Carohna had granted but 163 divorces, which was at the rate of 1 per 100,000 of population.

Excise and Dispensary Act. — Quite the most unique feature of the prohibition legislation of South Carolina — indeed one of the most unique excise features of any state legislation — was the passing of the Dispensary Act which placed the entire control of the liquor traffic in the hands of the Government, the profits from which accrued to the state school fund. This Act was .abolished in 1907 under the pressure of a tenijierance movement that was sweep- ing through tlu> Southern states and local option was adopted with the result that in 1909 eighteen coun- ties had voted prohibition. The Dispensarj' Law had scarcely been enacted in 1892 when it met with fierce opposition, receiving, however, hearty official >•- >jx)rt from Governor Tillm.an. In 1894 the o'uprcme Court of the State decided that it was un-

constitutional, but successive Legislatures modified the original act in conformity to the ruling of the Court. In 1897, the United States Supreme Court decided that the section forbidding the importation of liquor into the state by private persons violated the inter-state commerce laws of Congress.

Wills. — Every person is entitled to make a will unless insane, under age, or labouring under some disabihty of law arising from want of capacity or want of perfect hberty of action. Married women deal, in every respect, as though they were single, and have the same power to make contracts with regard to their separate property as do their husbands. All wills shall be in writing and signed by the party devising, or by some other person in his presence and by his express direction, and shall be attested and subscribed, in the presence of said devisor, bj' three or more credible witnesses, each in the presence of the other. No noncupative will shall be good, where the estate exceeds fifty dollars, unless the same is provided by the oaths of three witnesses who were present at the making thereof and bid by the testator to bear witness that such was his will, or words to that effect; nor unless such will was made during the last sickness of the deceased, in the house or place where he shall have died. No testimony shall be admitted to prove such a will, if six months shall have elapsed after speaking the testamentary words, except such testimony, or the substance thereof, was committed to WTiting within six days after the making of said will, and not then, unless such will shall be presented for probate within twelve months. The assets which come into the hands of the executors or adminis- trators shall be applied to the payment of the debts of the estate in the following order: (1) Funeral and other expenses of last sickness, charges of probate or letters of administration; (2) Debts due to public; (3) Judgments, mortgages, and executions — the oldest first; (4) Rent; (5) Bonds, debts by speciaUty and debts by simple contract.

Colonial Records North Carolina (1886-90); South Carolina Hist. Society's Collections; Rivers, Sketch of the Hist, of South Carolina to 'l719 (Charleston, 1856); McGradt, South Carolina under Royal Government (New York, 1899); Eliza Lucas. Journal and Letters (Holbrook's ed. 1850); O'Connell, Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia (New York, 1879); Shea. Hist, of the Catholic Church in the U. S (New York, 1886); Bishop Eng- land's Works.

Jarvis Keiley.

Southcote, Joanna. See Sabbatarians, Sab- batarianism.

South Dakota, the thirty-ninth state, admitted to the Union on 2 November, 1889, is officially bounded as follows: "Beginning at the point of intersection of the western boundary of Minnesota with the northern boundary of Iowa and running thence northerlv along the western boundary of Minnesota to its intersection with the 7th standard parallel, thence west on the line of the 7th standard parallel produced due west to the intersection with the 27th meridian of longitude west of Washington (.\pprox. 104 W. Greenwich) thence south on the 27th meridian of longitude to its mtersection with the northern boundary line of Nebraska, thence easterly .ilong said northern boundary line of Nebraska to its inter- section with the "western boundary line of Iowa, thence north .along the western boundary line of the State of Iowa to the north-west corner of said State of Iowa, thence east along the northern boundary line of Iowa to the place of beginning."

The state contains 76,850 square miles. Generally the surface is undulating prairie Lands, except in the south-western portion which is occupied by the Black Hills. The general altitude is about fifteen hundred feet above sea level. The lowest point, Bigstone Lake on the eastern boundary, is 962 feet, and Harney's Peak in the Black Hills rises to 7216 feet. The IV'lissouri River divides the state into nearly